


Letting Him In

by ahunmaster



Series: Western AU [12]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Abusize Ex-Husband Razorcut, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Western, Children, F!Soundwave - Freeform, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gender Bender, Genderbending, Light Angst, OCs - Freeform, One Shot, Original Character(s), Past Abuse, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 05:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10735089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahunmaster/pseuds/ahunmaster
Summary: Bombrush killed their abusive father and then forced himself into their lives after the town was taken over.  But Soundwave's sons start to open up to the man who is much more than a bandit.





	Letting Him In

 

It started with a simple question that Soundwave happened to overhear one day.

 

"Mister Bombrush?"

 

"Yes, Laserbeak?"

 

"... Do you know how to fix a shoelace?"

 

Soundwave blinked before turning from the pot of soup to the table where Bombrush was reading a newspaper and Laserbeak was holding up his shoe and a broken off part of a shoelace to the man.

 

"How to fix a shoelace?" Bombrush repeated in confusion.

 

"Yeah."

 

"I'm not sure. Can’t we just replace a shoelace?"

 

"It's broken.  Can't someone put it together?"

 

"I think most people just replace it."

 

Laserbeak looked at his shoe, then his shoelace, then back to Bombrush before he sighed and put his hands down.

 

Bombrush looked at the young boy before he smiled and reached out to rub the kid's head.

 

"I don't know if they can fix that shoelace, but I think I know someone who might have a shoelace like this one to replace it."

 

Laserbeak's head came up before his eyes widened with delight.

 

Soundwave wasn't sure what to think before she turned back to the soup to stir it.

 

XXX

 

"Hey!"

 

“Hey, Mister Bandit!"

 

Bombrush stopped brushing his horse's hair to look at the twins.  Soundwave was making sure the animal was eating its oats when her twins approached them.  She watched him look around first before turning back to them.

 

"I'm assuming you mean me and not some bandit hiding behind me?"

 

"Yeah, we mean you, Mister Bandit."

 

"We need a favor, Mister."

 

Frenzy and Rumble had avoided the man and the house whenever he was there.  What did they suddenly need from him now, Soundwave thought.

 

"... What sort of favor?"

 

"You guys control what goes in and out of town, right?" Frenzy asked.

 

Bombrush paused for a moment.  "In the simplest sense, we do.  Why?"

 

"If you and your boss has a say of what come in and goes out, then you know people, right?" Rumble answered.

 

"So you two need me to get you something?"

 

"Duh!" They answered in unison.

 

"I'm sure your mother would be happy to help-" Bombrush turned to her nonchalantly.

 

"It's not something anyone can get!"

 

"Yeah, what Frenzy said, it ain't an easy thing to find!"

 

Bombrush raised an eyebrow, a small smirk coming to his face.  "Are you asking me, in front of your mother, to get you contraband?"

 

"We ain't suicidal, old man!"

 

"Yeah, we ain't!"

 

"We just want to know if you can get us some sweets!"

 

"The hard candies those salesmen from the east sometimes have!"

 

"Exactly!"

 

Bombrush folded his arms across his chest as he looked at the two.  "You two want me to use my illegal connections in the criminal roads of the west to get you two some hard candy from the East Coast?"

 

"... Uh, yeah?"

 

"Can't ya?"

 

"I mean, we'll pay for-"

 

"Okay."

 

The twins’ mouths stayed open as they looked at the man.

 

"Huh?"

 

"What?"

 

Bombrush shrugged.  "I don't mind.  Besides, I'm sure others would like to get some sweets from the coast as well.  Maybe we could set up some business exporting it to here.  I'll have to run it through Shockwave, but I can definitely get you two some candy."

 

"Really?" Both boys' eyes lit up like a blazing fire.

 

"Sure.  So long as you share them with your brothers."

 

"You got yourself a deal, Sir!"

 

"Yeah.  Done deal, Mister Bandit!"

 

Soundwave stopped petting the horse's snout as she watched her sons, the ones who had actively avoided the man for weeks, shake hands with the man they would insult when he wasn't in reach.

 

This was just getting weirder and weirder.

 

XXX

 

Ravage took a long time.  After what happened with his brothers, Soundwave wondered if he would ask the man of something.

 

She didn't expect it to be one crisp autumn morning as she went to get water from the well.

 

"You've killed a lot of people with that, haven't you?"

 

Soundwave didn't mean to spy on them, but she couldn't stop herself from hiding behind a tree as she watched her eldest speak to Bombrush, who was cleaning his gun out on the back porch.

 

"... I have."

 

"So you're good with it?"

 

"I have to be.  A weapon is dangerous if you don't know how to use it."

 

She honestly thought her son was trying to provoke the man.  Ravage had been fiercely protective of her ever since this man killed their father and forced his way into their home as if he now owned it.  Ravage had always been the protective one; she couldn't remember how many times she had to keep Ravage from getting between her abusive husband and her or his siblings.  Even at his stature, he was still only a boy.

 

Bombrush didn't seem fazed as he turned to Ravage to stare him in the face.  "Is there a reason you're asking me about my gun?"

 

"Teach me how to use one."

 

Soundwave flinched.  Bombrush didn't seem as shocked as her, only raising an eyebrow.  "That's a rather big order you're trying to ask for."

 

"I want to learn how to use a gun."

 

Oh Primus.  Oh Primus, why was her baby trying to learn how to use a gun?  He wasn't- No, he wasn't like her ex-husband who was power-hungry and drunk on hurting others.  Ravage wasn't like his father.

 

"... You want to learn how to kill people."

 

"... It's more complicated than that."

 

The older man huffed. "I know you don't know much of me, but I don't go around teaching kids how to kill each other for the fun of it-"

 

"I want to be able to protect my family," Ravage interrupted him, trying to draw himself to full height even as he stood over the sitting man, "I can't fight that well.  I'm not strong.  I can't hope to beat another man in a knife fight.  So if I want to protect my brothers and my mother, I need to know how to use a gun and I want you to teach me how to use one."

 

Bombrush looked speechless.  His jaw hadn't dropped like Soundwave's had, but she could see the look in his eyes.  Watching, studying, trying to peer into her son's eyes, ones she could not see from her angle.

 

It was about a few minutes later that he shook his head.  "I won't."

 

Ravage didn't move or try to argue, but Soundwave could see her son's fist tighten in fury.

 

"But I will teach you how to defend yourself," Bombrush got up and looked her son dead in the eye.  "I could spend a hundred years teaching you to be the best sharpshooter in the whole West, but it'll mean jack shit if you don't have the means to pull it out in a fight.  So before I teach you how to fire off a shot and make it count, I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself and your brothers and your mother without a gun first. Then you can protect your family without ever needing to pull a trigger."

 

Soundwave was left stunned at the declaration.  Ravage seemed shocked as well as his fist's hold slackened.

 

"I know you mean well, kid," Bombrush laid a hand on her eldest boy’s head, "But being able to shoot a gun doesn't mean you'll be able to protect someone with it.  All it means is that you can kill with it.  And I don't want you to be forced into such a position where you use it and you end up hurting someone you care about."

 

Ravage still wasn't speaking, but Bombrush seemed to know what he was trying to say even if she couldn't see her son's mouth move.

 

"I'll teach you how to fight.  I'll teach you how to use what you have to defend yourself.  I'll teach you how to read a situation and act when it comes to protecting yourself or someone you love.  I'll teach you all of this so that when I finally teach you how to fire a gun, I know you'll only use it as a last resort when it comes down to saving someone you love."

 

Soundwave was unable to move as she watched the man comfort her son.  It wasn't much, just a hand on the boy's head as Ravage didn't move.  She couldn't tell if he was crying nor could she bring herself to go to her son's side.

 

Ravage was growing up and he was now trying to face the world as a man when he was still just a boy.

 

She hid herself as Bombrush lead the boy back inside, promising to start training him whenever he was ready to.

 

It was... her sons.  She had wanted nothing to do with Bombrush but... but he had somehow wormed his way into her family.

 

But she couldn't bring herself to hate him.  Even after all the teasing and flirting and innuendos, she didn't hate Bombrush. He didn't hit her.  He didn't insult her or her sons.  He didn't demand anything or force her to do anything outside what she was already providing for her home and sons.

 

He wasn't Razorcut.  He wasn't anything like her abusive husband.

 

Soundwave had wanted to protect her sons from him, but now... had she been doing something horrible, trying to keep the man away from them? She just didn't know.

 

END


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